For a young man whose very name suggests that his path in life would not always be filled with open doors, De’End Parker faced yet another crossroads.

Last spring, the talented basketball guard was done at the University of San Francisco, dismissed by the coach with whom he clashed. The Dons were the third school for which Parker had played, following stints at City College of San Francisco, where he led the team to its first state title in 49 years, and UCLA, where he gave up a scholarship to tend to his ill mother.

When USF didn’t work out, Parker thought he might not ever play college basketball again. Then he hooked up with a coach and a school that specialize in rehabilitation projects, and at Cal State San Marcos Parker and his teammates are building on what could be an extraordinary season.

From his point guard position, the 6-feet-6 Parker is averaging a team-best 19.4 points per game and the Cougars have surged to an 11-1 start in rising to No. 8 in the country in the NAIA. San Marcos is coming off two dominating home wins in the CSUSM Holiday Classic at MiraCosta College, and it hosts San Diego Christian on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

“This is the most fun I’ve had playing basketball in a long time,” Parker, 22, said.

Parker and six other Cougars who have played Division I basketball were recruited by head coach Jim Saia, whose found a rebirth of his own in San Marcos. Saia was an assistant at UCLA for seven years and the interim head coach at USC after Henry Bibby was fired four games into the 2004-05 season.

When the Trojans eventually hired a new staff, Saia was out, and he ended up at Fresno Pacific before being lured to San Marcos to start a basketball program. In two-plus seasons, his record is 53-20.

Saia – intense and entertainingly animated on the sideline -- admits that he’d like to recruit a bunch of incoming freshmen every season, but the program doesn’t yet have a gym or its own conference. The Cougars play in the Association of Independent Institutions (AII).

“We try to welcome these guys who just didn’t work out in Division I,” Saia said. “I show them respect, and they show it back to me. It’s a great bunch of kids.”

What Saia seems to get is maximum effort from players who appreciate their circumstance. The Cougars’ exciting, up-tempo pace has resulted in four seniors averaging double figures – the others being Malcolm Lemmons (14.1), Jason Johnson (13.8) and Bobby Macias (10.0).

Parker probably has had the toughest road. He was named De’End because he was the last of seven children born in San Francisco to his biological mother. Suffering from drug addiction, the mother gave up custody of her three youngest kids, including 2-year-old De’End, to her friend, Carmen Johnson. In all, Johnson would raise 13 children.

“She means everything to me,” Parker said of the woman he calls “mom.”